Enjoy a virtual tour of Biddy Marshall's glorious vicarage garden

When Biddy Marshall and her husband, Roger, bought the Old Vicarage in Whixley, near Harrogate, 50 years ago, the garden was a sorry sight. It comprised one yew tree, one bush, a border of thuggish perennials and a pile of rubble. Its spectacular renaissance is the result of decades of dedication and work.

The couple created a walled garden and courtyard, which is where Biddy discovered her love of gardening. A course at Askham Bryan College further fuelled her passion for plants.

The three-quarters of an acre plot combines English romanticism with plantsmanship and is now alive with roses, honeysuckle, irises and cherished Goliath poppies, which are from her late father’s garden.

Biddy was county organiser for the charity fundraising National Garden Scheme for more than 30 years and is still heavily involved. She hopes to open her garden next month for pre-booked visits via the NGS website but in the meantime she is urging people to visit www.ngs.org.uk to enjoy virtual visits and videos of the NGS open gardens and to donate online if they can.

The NGS usually raises £4m per year for charity, some of which funded the roof garden at Maggie’s cancer care centre in Leeds. This year it was to help fund a Macmillan cancer unit but so far it has only raised £100,000, a fraction of what is needed. www.ngs.org.uk

*Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.

Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.

And that is why I must make an urgent request of you: as advertising revenue declines, your support becomes evermore crucial to the maintenance of the journalistic standards expected of The Yorkshire Post. If you can, safely, please buy a paper or take up a subscription. We want to continue to make you proud of Yorkshire’s National Newspaper but we are going to need your help.

Postal subscription copies can be ordered by calling 0330 4030066 or by emailing [email protected]. Vouchers, to be exchanged at retail sales outlets - our newsagents need you, too - can be subscribed to by contacting subscriptions on 0330 1235950 or by visiting www.localsubsplus.co.uk where you should select The Yorkshire Post from the list of titles available.

If you want to help right now, download our tablet app from the App / Play Stores. Every contribution you make helps to provide this county with the best regional journalism in the country.

Sincerely. Thank you. James Mitchinson, Editor